Jesus Diaz

Click to viewAs we wait for the release of the new firmware that, according to Apple, "will likely" brick all unlocked iPhones—hits update for the 75,453rd time— here's the promised Star Wars timeline which narrates the quest for the free software unlock, complete with dates, links and commentary.

It all started here, when Frucci asked for a graphic about The AT&T/iPhone Moral Quandary. Little did we know what would come later, with the iPhone unlock race that started as soon as Apple's cellphone was released:

8:00 AM ON WED JUL 18 2007. The first approach started here: the Dev Team partially unlocks the iPhone. As a result, you could use any SIM card or contract from AT&T, instead of those contemplated in the agreement.

8:45 AM ON TUE AUG 14 2007. The first solution that unlocks 100% any iPhone is announced: using a TurboSIM card the iPhone doesn't know if it's not working on the AT&T network. Still, this costs money and the cards are scarce. The search for the free software unlock continues.

3:35 PM ON TUE AUG 21 2007. Using information and code from the Dev Team, a hacker unlocks the iPhone using a hardware soldering. Later it was discovered by others that no soldering was needed, just a couple of metal pins and a bit of wire.

12:20 PM ON FRI AUG 24 2007. Partly using the information obtained by the Dev Team, a group called iPhone Sim Free announces the first software unlock, but they want you to pay for it. Weeks would pass until they released their paid program to the public, only to be rendered obsolete three days later by the iPhone Dev Team with the free software unlock.

11:30 AM ON SAT AUG 25 2007. Knowing that only the free software unlock was going to be The Real Thing™ and that the Dev Team was demoralized by the news and the attitude of some people in the community, Gizmodo asks for your support for the iPhone Dev Team ongoing efforts

6:23 AM ON TUE AUG 28 2007. A newspaper claims Israeli hackers get yet another new unlock. Shortly thereafter, we discover it is an error and they just used the modified version of the hardware unlock.

3:00 AM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. The first commercial unlock gets released and the Giz witnesses as the reseller has countless problems installing it in two clients' iPhones. Gizmodo discovers there's a bug in the iPhone Sim Free software that makes it unusable with certain SIM cards. As a result of this discovery, iPhone Sim Free fixes the bug hours later.

7:10PM ON TUE SEP 11 2007. The Death Star explodes: the Giz is the only media outlet to witness as the core iPhone Dev Team unlocks the iPhone with its own solution. It gets released as free program at 8:10PM, only a few hours after the paid software unlock was released,

1:00 PM ON WED SEP 12 2007. The next day some stupid bozo tries to snatch $41,000 posing as the "sole developer" of a graphical tool to unlock the iPhone. He fools a major gadget site into thinking he's the author. Hours later, Gizmodo uncovers the imposter, a 23-year-old from Belfast who got the original code from Erica Sadun and convinced another developer to make it work.

So yes, the iPhone Dev Team is still working on the unlock. Not only that, as you probably already know, they are preparing software to un-brick the iPhone and return it to its original state. And hopefuly, unlock it again. You can support them by donating money to the following PayPal account: